It’s been long rumoured that Nintendo and Microsoft could one day merge to bring Xbox Game Pass to the Switch system. However, company boss Doug Bowser doesn’t seem entirely convinced this is the way.
In a recent interview with Polygon, Bowser was asked about whether Xbox Game Pass might ultimately finds its way onto Nintendo Switch, to which he seemed confident Nintendo's current delivery method is the way forward:
"The way I would answer that, Russ, is: We are always looking at various ways that we can engage our consumers right now. We have found that our catalog and the third-party publishing catalog that’s available, whether that’s through Nintendo Switch Online or through frontline game purchase, has really been allowing us to do that."
He also went into analysing the way consumers want their Nintendo products, and when asked whether he sees the Nintendo Online Service as a counteroffer to something like Game Pass, he responded with the following:
“The way I look at it is, we want to offer consumers choices on Nintendo Switch, and obviously, the ability to buy the games and play the games that they choose to play. The fact that we have well over an 8.0 attach rate to every Switch unit that’s been installed over the last four years is an indication that consumers want to consume content that way.”
The comments would appear to suggest that Nintendo is happy with its current arrangement, meaning the only interaction between the two companies could be shared properties such as Banjo-Kazooie and the Ori series. Although, anything could change at any point and public perception is always changing.
Would you like to see Xbox Game Pass on Nintendo Switch? Let us know in the comments below.
[source polygon.com]
Comments 23
It's still amazing that a guy called Bowser is running Nintendo 😂
Game Pass and xCloud on Switch would be amazing but it does seem pretty unlikely
Nintendo will never allow that to happen..
Maybe I read it wrong, xCloud I could see on the Switch.
But GamePass? They would have to port every game to the Switch, which I don't see it will happen.
Or do people actually mean xCloud when they say GamePass ?
Sony or Nintendo won't lose third party sales.
@Kefka2589
Yeah I know, so they actually mean the same as on android, just streaming games?
I feel like MS should simply partner with someone like samsung to make a streaming only handheld with comfortable built in controllers.
Call it XBox Series P (for portable)
Or XBox Series Go
Make sure it has 5g built in.
@Tharsman ON POINT
@Murray remember the official name for xCloud is "XBox Game Pass Cloud Gaming"
@Kefka2589 I dare bet money it'd part of their long term Japan strategy.
But xcloud is missing a critical feature: they need to work out the rights to allow nearly any game I buy to be playable via cloud streaming, even if the game is not part of GamePass.
Edit: first party peripherals, IMO, would not help. The issue is having a device designed entirely around gaming. Attaching a Kishi to the phone kinda works, but it's clunky and requires carrying around that clunky thing. Plus, it can be frustrating to have notifications and texts and calls interrupt gaming. Turning those off while gaming is not an option.
@Kefka2589 I'm skeptical of them actually making a handheld. They are putting more work on getting touch controls for games, they just want to bring the games to you on whatever device you have. Making hardware is risky and usually generates a loss anyways. They are pushing their service to existing devices so i wouldn't hold my breath on a handheld. A third party might make one but I don't expect an official handheld Xbox.
It'd be nice to have the option to play Game Pass titles - either streaming or natively - on Switch, but as others have mentioned, it'd be a licencing nightmare. If it ever made financial sense for Nintendo, I could see them going for it, but their business is the healthiest it's been in years, so for the foreseeable it's unlikely to happen.
The whole interview is definitely something. The interviewer seems to be asking questions from a place if great respect, Bowser doesn't give a thing up - felt like a politician answering
The best thing that could come out of this for me would be a release of a joy con pair with analog triggers for use on game pass. Such a controller would encourage many more Devs to code support for the feature into their games instead of the paltry few that have supported the GameCube controller.
I don’t ever see this happening.
The Switch is too weak to run most games that will be coming to XSX/S in the future for Game Pass.
And would enough gamers be comfortable with streaming games to make it even worth the hassle in the first place?
@Murray gamepass is xcloud technically now..as you have to use the gamepass app to stream the gamepass games on android..they way ms is using it is gamepass dl if your on a xbox or pc but everything else gamepass is useing xcloud to stream your gamepass game... so in this instance gamepass on switch would utilize the xcloud parrt of gamepass and stream the games to the system which wouldnt require porting just a good wifi signal.
@KelticDevil it’s how the Switch is getting Hitman 3. There is a cloud service company, and they announced they bringing even more games that to the Switch. Globally, they’ve done Control; in Japan they’ve done RE7 and AC Odyssesy (I think). Nintendo seems to favor them.
That said I think everyone is waiting to see how it does long term before putting much stock in it. But it is nice the Switch is getting Hitman 3 same day as the others. Still not really a lot of WiFi hot spots in some areas :/ what’s the point of portable console if your stuck playing the game on WiFi.
I get why this question gets brought up to Bowser. If I had a Switch as my main console, I would hope for this too. I would own very few games if I owned a Switch.
Other than Nintendo’s first party games, the system is basically a console for indies & niche Japanese games that don’t sell in the west. 3rd party support is weak, as usual on a Nintendo console. And the 3rd party games it does get all look & run way worse than on Xbox & PlayStation.
And I’m sure Nintendo is happy that their fanbase will buy NES games for the 67th time & pay for a complete garbage of an online service.
Their fanbase is extremely loyal (to their own detriment, in my opinion) & they probably don’t want Microsoft’s Game Pass mucking up their gold mine.
@KelticDevil I really hope that’s not an insult to Indies because there are some amazing Indie games and Xbox has a delightful amount of them as well. I’ll force you to play Animal Crossing with me if you diss my Indies.
However, I don’t think it’s entirely the fanbase. sighs I mean sports game players essentially buy the same game every year. I don’t get that either but if I guess they have to if they want to play with their friends.
@mousieone
No it wasn’t a shot at indies, as I like them too.
It was a shot at Nintendo & the Switch & it’s lack of major 3rd party support.
Why would Nintendo want to have a competitors Cloud gaming subscription service on their hardware? Makes no sense.
They've already had Control, Resident Evil 7 and AC Odyssey sold as Cloud games on Switch. I think Hitman III and Resident Evil 3 are also getting Cloud versions.
I'd expect to see more of this since the Switch will lose third party support due to being vastly unpowered.
@Murray Should be pretty obvious that they meant XCloud
No one wants to associate in a major fashion with the 3rd place loser on the road to exiting the hardware market.
@Menchi always the most insightful thought provoke paragon of knowledge. You always bring the best to every conversation. Do remember the WiiU sold significantly less that the XB1. The Switch technically gen wise pairs against the PS5/XSX
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